Jar of Flies is the third studio EP by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on January 25, 1994 through Columbia Records. It is the first EP in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 Chart and was well received by critics. The EP has since been certified double-platinum by the RIAA and has gone on to sell 4 million copies worldwide. Jar of Flies is one of the biggest sellers in Alice in Chains' catalogue. Following Alice in Chains' extensive 1993 world tour for Dirt and appearance at Lollapalooza, the band members returned home to Seattle to find themselves evicted from their residence after failing to pay the rent. The band then moved into London Bridge Studio feeling lonely and depressed. Vocalist Layne Staley said the band "just wanted to go into the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars and see what happened. We never really planned on the music we made at that time to be released. But the record label heard it and they really liked it. For us, it was just the experience of four guys getting together in the studio and making some music."
Written and recorded in one week in September 1993, Jar of Flies was produced by the band members themselves with Toby Wright, and marks the first major studio recording with bassist Mike Inez "(the band recorded two songs with Inez, "What the Hell Have I" and "A Little Bitter", for the Summer 1993 Last Action Hero soundtrack earlier in the year)". Guitarist Jerry Cantrell said, "That was the first time we'd written with Mike Inez...The whole Jar of Flies EP proved to both us and the fans what a talented and valid part of the band Mike was. He plays the nastiest, darkest shit but he's got the sweetest heart in the world."
According to Staley, the title for the album came from a science experiment Cantrell conducted in third grade: "They gave him two jars full of flies. One of the jars they overfed, the other jar they underfed. The one they overfed flourished for a while, then all the flies died from overpopulation. The one they underfed had most of the flies survive all year. I guess there's a message in there somewhere. Evidently that experiment had a big impact on Jerry."Jar of Flies is the third studio EP by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on January 25, 1994 through Columbia Records. It is the first EP in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 Chart and was well received by critics. The EP has since been certified double-platinum by the RIAA and has gone on to sell 4 million copies worldwide. Jar of Flies is one of the biggest sellers in Alice in Chains' catalogue. Following Alice in Chains' extensive 1993 world tour for Dirt and appearance at Lollapalooza, the band members returned home to Seattle to find themselves evicted from their residence after failing to pay the rent. The band then moved into London Bridge Studio feeling lonely and depressed. Vocalist Layne Staley said the band "just wanted to go into the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars and see what happened. We never really planned on the music we made at that time to be released. But the record label heard it and they really liked it. For us, it was just the experience of four guys getting together in the studio and making some music."
Written and recorded in one week in September 1993, Jar of Flies was produced by the band members themselves with Toby Wright, and marks the first major studio recording with bassist Mike Inez "(the band recorded two songs with Inez, "What the Hell Have I" and "A Little Bitter", for the Summer 1993 Last Action Hero soundtrack earlier in the year)". Guitarist Jerry Cantrell said, "That was the first time we'd written with Mike Inez...The whole Jar of Flies EP proved to both us and the fans what a talented and valid part of the band Mike was. He plays the nastiest, darkest shit but he's got the sweetest heart in the world."
According to Staley, the title for the album came from a science experiment Cantrell conducted in third grade: "They gave him two jars full of flies. One of the jars they overfed, the other jar they underfed. The one they overfed flourished for a while, then all the flies died from overpopulation. The one they underfed had most of the flies survive all year. I guess there's a message in there somewhere. Evidently that experiment had a big impact on Jerry."false2025-11-08 04:22:05Jar of Flies19941994-01-251994-01-2531Grunge11161821212094fb8319e-cdba-4948-a8a0-b316995a20944bd95eea-b9f6-4d70-a36c-cfea774315533b6b7688-c97b-3d11-9334-3158468074f7/media/data/media5/Music/Alice in Chains/Jar of Flies/folder.jpgAlice in ChainsAlice in ChainsAlice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993. William DuVall joined the band in 2006 as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, replacing Staley, who died in 2002. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.Often associated with grunge music, Alice in Chains' sound incorporates heavy metal elements. The band is known for its distinctive vocal style, which often included the harmonized vocals between Staley and Cantrell (and later Cantrell and DuVall). Cantrell started to sing lead vocals on the 1992 acoustic EP Sap, and his role continued to grow in the following albums, making Alice in Chains a two-vocal band.
Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. They achieved success during the era with the albums Facelift (1990), Dirt (1992) and Alice in Chains (1995), as well as the EP Jar of Flies (1994). Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity from 1996 onward, due to Staley's substance abuse, which resulted in his death in 2002. The band regrouped in 2006, with DuVall taking over as lead vocalist full-time, and they have since released three more albums: Black Gives Way to Blue (2009), The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013), and Rainier Fog (2018).
Since its formation, Alice in Chains has released six studio albums, three EPs, three live albums, four compilations, two DVDs, 43 music videos, and 32 singles. They have sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and over 19 million records in the US alone. The band has had 18 Top 10 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, 5 No. 1 hits, and received 11 Grammy Award nominations. They were ranked number 34 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and as the 15th greatest live band by Hit Parader.